1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to telephone network directory assistance services and more particularly to providing, to a telephone network user who has a non-published telephone number, information about who has attempted to obtain their telephone number via directory assistance.
2. Background of the Invention
Because of the desire for privacy, many telephone company customers choose not to have their telephone numbers published in a printed or on-line telephone directory. These customers also often request that their telephone numbers not be made available via a telephone network directory assistance service (often accessible in the United States by dialing 411) provided by the telephone company. Accordingly, such customers, generally known as “non-published customers,” have prohibited the dissemination of their telephone numbers by the telephone networks, such that only the non-published customers can provide those telephone numbers.
While the privacy features of non-published numbers have certain advantages, non-published customers may be unwittingly missing important or desirable telephone calls. For example, a non-published customer might not receive desirable telemarketing calls, or personal calls from friends or relatives who do not know the non-published customer's telephone number. Thus, a non-published customer may fail to receive all of the telephone calls that he/she may actually want to receive.